ESTHER DERBY draws on four decades of leading, observing, and living through organizational change, combining a deep knowledge of complex adaptive systems with an attention to people. She is the founder of esther derby associates, inc., working with a broad array of clients from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups. She also teaches workshops around the world, supporting leaders to amplify empowerment, engage their organizations in joint problem solving, and evolve their systems toward better results.
“In this book, Esther has beautifully captured the essence of
successful lasting change. The seven rules provide a framework for
engaging with people and systems in a way that honors everyone and
creates the kind of safety necessary for change to take root, all
without glossing over the hard parts. A must-read for anyone
seeking to have a lasting impact or bring about change.”
—Elisabeth Hendrickson, Vice President, Research and Development,
Pivotal
“As a software executive, I have been responsible for leading or
supporting change for a long time. I wish I had this book years
ago; it would have vastly accelerated my learning.”
—Kevin Goldsmith, Vice President of Engineering, AstrumU
“I hired Esther as a consultant to be part of my transformation
team in our global organization. We put many of the topics and
tools in this book into practice. Applying these concepts with
Esther has been invaluable as I work with teams to navigate
change.”
—Ken Power, Principal Engineer/Engineering Director, Cisco
Systems
“Change is a social process. It’s messy, confusing, upsetting, and
very complex. With 7 Rules for Positive, Productive Change, Esther
Derby has laid out a sense-making path for change agents that not
only helps us assess situations, find congruence, and honor the
human nature of knowledge work but also teaches us—the change
agents—that true and lasting change starts within. Read this book,
internalize the rules, and help your organizations inspect, adapt,
and thrive.”
—Ryan Ripley, creator of the Agile for Humans podcast, Ryan Ripley
& Company
“Esther Derby has written a must-read guide for anyone whose
organization is experiencing a complex shift. . . . Read this
book—and learn from one of the best.”
—Howard Sublett, Chief Product Owner, Scrum Alliance
“This book is a product of Esther’s hard-won insights and her
ability to explain them in simple, memorable ways. It is an
invaluable resource to all those in the field of knowledge work who
want to understand what is going on at a deeper level and how to
create effective change around them. It’s an opportunity to stand
on her shoulders.”
—Kevin Trethewey, Director of Engineering, Jemstep by Invesco
“This book is a blueprint for both novices and experienced change
professionals to enhance their approach to complex change. The
blend of both examples and detailed material helped me see where I
need to polish my approach and where I need to improve my empathy.
Selfishly, I plan to share 7 Rules with my team and leaders so they
can gain a better perspective on complex change management.”
—Ben van Glabbeek, Vice President, Agile Transformation, Fiserv
“Wow. If you want to help people, and the organizations they’re in,
improve, these are indeed seven rules you need to know and will
want to follow. It’s dangerous to go it alone. Take this book with
you!”
—Ron Jeffries, author of The Nature of Software Development
“Esther brings her vast experience of closely studying
organizational change to show how embracing the human side of
organizations means accepting them as the organic ‘forests’ they
are, rather than mechanistic ‘machines.’ Her unique style of
engaging storytelling and ability to carve out deep insights from
everyday incidents revolving around change make this book a
must-have guide of our times.”
—Rashina Hoda, Senior Lecturer, Department of Electrical, Computer,
and Software Engineering, The University of Auckland
“An accessible yet challenging addition to the growing literature
on change, I’m especially touched by the deep humanness of the
approach, including the repeated reframing of situations often
framed as ‘obstacles to change,’ as valuable resources and
opportunities to learn. Instead of merely giving lip service to
complexity, Derby’s 7 Rules embraces it.”
—Simon Bennett, Managing Principal, LASTing Benefits (UK and
Australia)
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